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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25707799">A touch of love.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreveroptimist/pseuds/foreveroptimist'>foreveroptimist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Neighbours (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:20:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25707799</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreveroptimist/pseuds/foreveroptimist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because we all deserve a little break from the current Praise angst.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Paul Robinson/Terese Willis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A touch of love.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He knew the exact moment it happened. Knew she was hurt and that he was the cause of it. For a split second it actually felt good. Getting back at her for keeping him in the dark.<br/>
Then her eyes had changed. Those beautiful brown eyes that always seemed to sparkle a little brighter when she looked at him, they changed. No sparkle. Just…sadness. And he was the cause of it.</p><p>Two seconds. That`s how long it took to hurt her, and now he had absolutely no idea how he could make it up to her.<br/>
One sentence. Ten words. He had counted. Why he had counted? He had no idea. That`s what he did when ever he faced a problem. Analysed every little detail, replayed the scenes in his head, over and over again, until he could come up with a solution. But not this time. No solution. </p><p>Why? Why did he have to say that? He knew, even before the words came out, that they would hit her like a ton of rocks.</p><p>“Yes, and I`m not even going to apologize for it!”</p><p>A sarcastic, hurtful reply to Terese asking if he would once again be Jane`s white knight.</p><p>She had gotten off the sofa, put her book down and went straight upstairs. He was too angry to follow. Not angry with her, angry with himself.<br/>
His first instinct had been to follow her upstairs, to tell her he was sorry. Instead he had poured himself a drink and headed out to the backyard for some fresh air. He could hear the shower running and looked up towards their bedroom window.<br/>
Was she crying? She probably was. She hardly ever cried in front of him, and especially not when he was the cause of her tears. She was too proud, and way too stubborn. He sighed and smiled shortly. Closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.</p><p>“So… How do I fix this?” he said, as if he was talking to someone, even though he was all alone. The sound of his own voice seemed loud out there, in the silence of the early night.  He left his drink untouched on the garden table and walked back inside. </p><p>He knew he had to fix this, yet he had no idea how, so he went to the person he always went to, when he had a problem. The only person who was always there for him, the one who always knew how to make things right. His wife.</p><p>All lights were off in their bedroom, yet he could see the contours of her body under the sheets in the moonlight that had fought it`s way through the curtains in the window. She wasn`t asleep. He could tell by the way she was breathing.  Some nights he would lie awake next to her just to hear how her breath changed when she fell asleep. It was like he slept better himself knowing that she was safe and sound beside him. Sometimes he would strike her hair back from her face and just look at her for a while, afraid that if he fell asleep, he would miss something. A breath, or a move…a sound.<br/>
She was his everything. She knew that? Right? So what was it about Jane that made her so insecure?</p><p>He undressed, hung his pants and shirt and his boxers on the chair next to his nightstand, and lied down next to her. He moved closer to her, so close he could feel her back against his chest. Both naked.<br/>
He put his arm around her and kissed her shoulder. His spot.<br/>
She didn`t move, but her breath changed slightly. A good sign, he thought. At least she wasn`t immune to his touches. The sparks between them, their chemistry was impossible to ignore.</p><p>“I`m sorry!” he said. “I`m so sorry!”</p><p>Still silence, but he could feel body moving even closer to his. A good sign.</p><p>“What I said was wrong, Terese. Well, the way I said it at least. I still want to be there for Jane, but I don`t want it to upset you. So this is where you come in!”<br/>
Still no answer, but he could feel her reaching for his hand, holding it lightly. Insecure, but trusting, and loving. Before he met Terese he never knew ho much emotions there could be, how much comfort and how much that could be said without words, just by holding hands.</p><p>“You have to tell me what it is that makes you so insecure?”</p><p>She took a deep breath. Held his hand a little tighter.</p><p>“She left you!”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“SHE left YOU! She broke up with you! Not the other way around. And when she was gone, you were upset. I could tell by the way you kept to yourself. By the way you stopped smiling.”</p><p>“Terese…”</p><p>“And now she`s back. Again. She might be staying for a while even, and the first thing you do is offering her a bed in our house, taking care of her. Even though SHE left YOU. That makes it kind of hard not to think you might still have feelings for her, and if I lose you…”<br/>
He could feel her shivering, and he knew she was about to cry again.<br/>
“She is everything I`m not. And you have such a long history with her.”</p><p>Paul sighed. Kissed her shoulder again.</p><p>“Jane left me because she knew I was in love with you!”</p><p>“What?”<br/>
She leaned her head back a little further, still not facing him. Both her hands reaching for his now.</p><p>“Jane left me because she knew. She knew all along what I was trying to hide. That it was, and that it always will be you! Just YOU! If I seemed sad when she left it was because I had hurt my lifelong friend, led her on when deep down I knew nothing would ever come out of it. If I seemed quiet, and kept to myself, it was because every time I saw you with Leo, my heart broke into pieces. Every time I heard your voice, or saw your face, I couldn`t breathe, just because I couldn`t be with you. You are my everything!<br/>
My eyes when I can`t see, my conscience. You are the air that I breathe! You are my best friend. My lover. My lifeline! My wife! And nothing, or no one, will ever change that. Without you, there is no me, and I don`t think I could live in this world if you weren`t in it! And I am so, so sorry that I made you doubt that!” </p><p>Terese finally turned around. Facing him. </p><p>He could see tears on her cheeks, so he leaned over and kissed them away. </p><p>“I`m so sorry.” He whispered.</p><p>“I love you!” she whispered back. </p><p>For a few seconds, they lied still, just staring into each other’s eyes.<br/>
Paul felt her fingers caressing his hand, and with a touch, everything was all right. With a touch, they were all right.<br/>
Sparks and chemistry. Pure love.</p>
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